ISD workers call for head of boss over Indece brochure brouhaha
Staff of the Information Services Department (ISD) have denied responsibility for the inaccuracies and blunders committed in the brochure prepared for the 59th Independence Day Celebration at the Black Star Square in Accra on Sunday, March 6.
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According to the staff, they could not be blamed for the errors in the brochures, since the contract for the work was given to private individuals, instead of the ISD.
Meanwhile, the acting Director of the ISD, Mr Francis Kwarteng Arthur, has taken full responsibility for the errors in the brochure.
He said he was taking responsbility for the mistakes in his capacity as the chair of the sub-committee of the communications of the National Planning Committee of the 59th Independence Day Celebration.
Chanting and shouting on the ISD premises Tuesday, the staff of ISD boycotted work while they expressed their grievances, saying that they would not accept responsibility for the grave mistakes which had caused great embarrassment to the government, in particular, and Ghana at large.
ISD under attack
The ISD has come under serious criticism and attack for being made to take the blame for the errors such as addressing the Kenyan President, Uhuru Kenyatta, as the President of the Republic of Ghana in the brochure.
The acting Director in an attempt last Monday to apologise to the President and Ghanaians, committed an error when he dated the statement of apology January 12, 2016.
The agitation by the ISD workers contradicted the acting director’s statement, which had indicated that the department authored the brochure and consequently accepted full responsibility for the misrepresentations.
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In view of that, among other issues, some of the workers also called for the head of the acting director, saying “he should be removed”.
They also demanded of the acting director to come out clearly and retract his initial apology which implicated the ISD in the errors.
Letterhead was forged
According to the workers, the letterhead that was used for the statement was not the original letterhead of the institution, a situation some described as criminal, claiming that the director forged that letterhead.
While showing the original copy to the Daily Graphic team, one of the workers said the acting director did not have the interest of the department at heart and “ought to go immediately, in the interest of the nation”.
“I take responsibility”
“The contract itself was not given to the ISD, even though we are responsible for brochures and other materials for such celebrations. This time the acting director took the contract and later gave it to some private individuals who are working at the Flagstaff House,” a worker who identified himself only as Baidoo told the Daily Graphic.
“Because of his selfish interest, he took the contract outside these premises and that has resulted in all these brouhaha,” another worker said.
To calm the nerves of the workers, Mr Arthur decided to hold an indoor meeting with them, while the media waited for a debriefing.
After about the one-and-a-half-hour meeting, Mr Arthur just told the media that he was personally responsible for the inaccuracies in the brochure.
He said he took full responsibility as the chair of the sub-committee of the National Planning Committee of the 59th Independence Day Celebration.
However, he said he was on the sub-committee as the chair by virtue of the fact that he was the director of the ISD.
Acting director walks off
Mr Arthur, who declined to answer questions posed by the media after his short statement, walked off as some journalists tried to get details about the series of event.
Meanwhile, the workers said they were not convinced by the explanations he gave during the meeting, saying, “We do not believe an iota of what he told us.”
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“We want him to render an apology to Ghanaians for dragging the image of the institution into disrepute for the inaccuracies and blunders which were committed,” one of the workers said.
They expressed regret that instead of using his position to solicit for contracts and resources to equip the institution, he was rather abusing his position by giving out contracts meant for the institution.